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THREE major ports in Malaysia are confident of
achieving their aggregate container targets of
12.3 million TEUs (20-ft equivalent units) by
year-end based on their nine months performance
this year.
In June, the Transport Ministry announced that
Port Klang, the national load centre was on its
way to becoming the first port in the country to
handle seven million TEUs by year-end.
This was based on its first five months
performance this year of some 2.79 million TEUs,
up 10% from the corresponding period last year.
The country’s transhipment terminal, Port of
Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) has seen a growth of 21.4%
to 2.7 million TEUs in the first six months of
the year from the same period last year.
Westports (M) Sdn Bhd, one of the two terminals
in Port Klang recorded about 3.2 million TEUs in
the first nine months of the year.
This was a 17% growth from the 2.7 million TEUs
achieved in the same period last year.
Out of the 3.2 million TEUs, Westports handled
2.3 million transshipment boxes, up 18% from
last year.
For local containers, Westports recorded a
growth of 14% to a total of 906,141 TEUs for the
first nine months of the year versus the same
period last year.
By year-end, Westport aims to achieve a total of
4.3 million TEUs from 3.7 million TEUs last
year.
Going forward, Westports is embarking on a
three-year RM800mil expansion plan to beef up
the capacity of the port.
The budget was for 48 prime movers, 51 trailers,
33 rubber-tyred gantries and land reclamation.
The other terminal in Port Klang, Northport (M)
Bhd recorded about two million TEUs in the first
nine months of the year, a 1.6% growth from the
1.9 million TEUs achieved in the same period
last year.
Its local boxes handled hit 1.3 million TEUs, up
3% from last year.
However, Northport's transshipment containers
dropped 0.9% from last year to 718,897.
The slight fall could be the port's strategy to
focus on local containers, which was a more
profitable business than its counterpart.
Northport is currently on an internally
generated RM585mil three-year expansion plan to
increase its capacity as well as to cater to
ultra-sized vessels.
This year the port is estimated to handle 2.8
million TEUs by year-end from the 2.7 million
TEUs achieved last year.
PTP, which has a target of 5.3 million TEUs by
year-end, has handled about 4.05 million TEUs in
the first nine months of the year.
Mainly a transhipment port, PTP has the
potential to cater to local boxes from the
Iskandar Development Region, which took off
early this year.
PTP said the healthy growth this year was due to
new services introduced as well as increased
volume by its existing customers.
Going forward, the port has ample space to
expand its quay line and free zone, currently
one of the major contributors to the terminal’s
growth.
Another major port, which also recorded
significant growth this year is Bintulu Port Sdn
Bhd. The port was recently designated the load
centre for East Malaysia.
For the first half of the year, Bintulu Port
recorded a 35.5% growth in TEUs amounting to
114, 713 compared with the same period last
year.
Although the port did not disclose its target
this year, Bintulu Port should easily surpass
the 250,000 TEUs mark by year-end based on its
performance in the first six months of the year.
Last year, Bintulu Port handled a total of 191,
824 TEUs, up 29.8% from the previous year.
Already well-known as a petrochemical hub,
Bintulu Port handled 12 million tonnes of
liquefied natural gas for the first half of the
year, a growth of 12.1% from the same period
last year.
However, its palm oil tonnage dropped 5.4% to
666,695 tonnes for the first six months of the
year.
Bintulu Port has the potential to not only be
the hub for petrochemical cargo but also the
premier maritime gateway for the
Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean
(BIMP-EAGA) and Asia Pacific region. |
